Politics

Mariano's travel tab adds up

Since being elected in 2004, his trips have cost taxpayers more than $10,000.

By DAVID DECAMP
Published July 18, 2007

ADVERTISEMENT [Pasco county government] "If I'm going to a conference, I'm going to go to educate myself. But I'm not going if I can't do that," said County Commissioner Jack Mariano, who is unsure whether he will continue to travel on county business if he has to use his own money.

NEW PORT RICHEY - As his cohorts scrounged for savings Tuesday by wiping out their entire travel budget for next year, County Commissioner Jack Mariano's face turned glum Tuesday.

He had just returned from a five-day trip to a conference in Richmond, Va., and Mariano was due to leave that evening for a three-day event at Marco Island.

Given the chance to learn, Mariano said, going to such conferences is "something that needs to be done."

And he's done it more than anyone else on the board, running up $10,300 and counting in travel expenses on the taxpayers' dime since winning election in November 2004, according to records.

Mariano's tab appears to be more than the total of the other four commissioners combined. Together, commissioners Michael Cox, Pat Mulieri and Ann Hildebrand have travel costs of $5,400 since autumn 2004. County officials said Commissioner Ted Schrader's records were unavailable Tuesday, but Schrader said he has not filed an expense report since attending a 2005 conference.

Faced with a $15.8-million budget shortfall, one of the first things commissioners did Tuesday was cut their entire $12,000 travel budget. The board is under pressure to reduce spending because of state-mandated tax cuts.

"I think it's all legitimate expenses," Schrader said of the conferences. "But unfortunately, we're faced with a near $16-million number that we've got to get to."

Cox called it a "luxury," and two others added their assents. Mariano was silent.

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Mariano's travel expenses paint him as a prolific traveler, but no spendthrift. Commission records show he has filed expenses for 29 trips, the most expensive costing $1,137 in July 2006. The Richmond trip may surpass it.

Mariano traveled at an estimated cost of at least $900 to Richmond for the National Association of Counties annual conference. Dining and airfare costs are estimated at $200 to $300 but have not been submitted.

The latest trip to Marco Island - dubbed Florida Environmental Permitting Summer School - is estimated to cost $955 before mileage and dining.

With pictures of pristine beaches, the flier for the event promotes the Marriott and the chance to "enjoy numerous opportunities to network in a relaxed social setting."

It will be his third time attending that conference.

"If I'm going to a conference, I'm going to go to educate myself. But I'm not going if I can't do that," said Mariano, who is unsure whether he will continue to travel on county business if he has to use his own money.

He brought his wife and children on the last two trips to Marco Island, he said. The county did not pay for any of the family's expenses, according to the reports.

In fact, records show Mariano eats frugally when using county cash: $6 lunches - a Wendy's grilled chicken sandwich and soda, for example - and $12 dinners, and not always on the county dime.

Mariano said he had many reasons to travel. He visited Tallahassee to lobby lawmakers to improve insurance laws for sinkhole-riddled Pasco. In Richmond, he said he tried to increase support for a national insurance fund for disasters.

And Mariano said a previous environmental conference helped him produce a $144,000 savings at the park project near SunWest mine near Hudson because he learned of credits for removing invasive banana pepper plants.

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None of his fellow members said his travel was wrong, though Hildebrand - who racked up just $355.90 in travel in the past 21/2 years - said the loss of travel money "doesn't bother me."

The chance to learn was why Mulieri at first proposed cutting the budget to $1,000 per commissioner.

Mulieri is booked to attend the Farm to Fuel Summit and will be staying at the Renaissance Vinoy Resort and Golf Club starting today. The three-day event, sponsored by the Florida Department of Agriculture, involves biofuels.

After Tuesday's meeting, she said she will pay for the two nights at the Vinoy out of her own pocket.

All told, this week's conference raises Mulieri's travel bill to more than $2,700 since late 2004 for four trips. Cox, who joined the board last November, has nearly matched Mulieri's spending.

Cox's four trips, costing a total of nearly $2,300, got him to Tallahassee to lobby lawmakers and to Central Florida for Florida Association of Counties events.

He'd do the lobbying again, he said, but skip the association meetings.

If he does, he said he'll use his own dime - something he chose not to do before.

Why?

"Because we had a budget for it," Cox said.

David DeCamp can be reached at (727) 869-6232 or ddecamp@sptimes.com. 

[Last modified July 18, 2007, 06:50:34]